‘The Boy & The Bindi’ is about a young South Asian boy.
A children’s book by Vivek Shraya has created a new space in South Asian children’s literature by reaching out to kids who are not accustomed to traditional gender perception and expression.
The illustrated book titled The Boy & The Bindi narrates the story of a young South Asian boy who becomes thoughtful about the bindi that his mother puts on her forehead.
According to South Asian tradition, a bindi represents religious and marital roots but it is common for women, especially for those from India, to use it as an accessory.
Talking to Huffington Post, Shraya said that books that deal with gender expression through the lives and stories of South Asian gender creative kids help in making a good connection with the life of brown children.
He also added that by using bindi as the symbol in his book, he could delve into the notions of gender expressions among South Asian children.
Shraya was quoted by The Huffington Post saying, “A few years ago, when I started wearing a bindi in public, I noted the ways it would elicit staring. I found it bizarre and fascinating that even a dot on a forehead is gendered and consequently discomforting when worn by someone who is seemingly the wrong gender.”
“I was excited about writing a story that not only pushed against this discomfort but that also featured a supportive parent… it has been my experience that being brown has room for queerness in ways that Western culture does not,” he added.
Shraya further explained that the book will identify with gender-creative South Asian children as the story of The Boy & The Bindi is closely knitted with the day to day life of South Asian family, thus the book encourages all children to “treasure and celebrate their own symbols and feelings of difference.”